Match reaction vs Spurs

[Marc Overmars]

Nothing has changed, nothing will change.

An excellent attacking duo will continue to have their work undermined by the same mistakes from the same individuals.

Is Emery the man to solve the issues at the back? I don’t think so.

[Maestro]

Nothing has changed, nothing will change.

An excellent attacking duo will continue to have their work undermined by the same mistakes from the same individuals.

Is Emery the man to solve the issues at the back? I don’t think so.

agreed, nothing more to it

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Only a good result in the end because of how shit it was in the first half. Otherwise, not all that encouraging.

At least our sole purpose now, finishing above Tottenham is still in existence.

[Master Splinter]

Two flawed teams who are far behind Citeh and Liverpool in terms professionalism, application and execution.

Should have won despite the early deficit, but let down by a glaring lack of game intelligence all across the pitch.

Xhaka, Kolasinac, Sokratis, Luiz and Pepe were especially bad today. And Leno with his worst half for the club.

Guendouzi the only one not in the pub.

[Gooner23]

Very disappointed with the dropped points and missed opportunity (once again). We do have a better squad this season but it's the same issues over and over. Emery is very unconvincing.

The midfield balance was wrong and instantly improved when Ceballos came on. Xhaka is a right off and Sokratis is a liability as well. Mhiki a waste of space and a waste of a sub, why didn't Willock come on.

Some positives though, Auba and Laca are a class act. I thought Guendozi had a brilliant game and Luiz was good as well.

[Globalgunner]

I switched off after the Kane pen. I dont know how our players can be so unaware of their location on the pitch. Xhaka just goes steaming in everytime and everywhere, a real stinker of a player who will never improve. Aside from our 2 strikers, we are a nothing team. Leno will never get ahead in the German team. He is 2 steps below the very best. Watched the 2nd half, still very mediocre.

[Chippy]

Very disappointed with the dropped points and missed opportunity (once again). We do have a better squad this season but it's the same issues over and over. Emery is very unconvincing.

The midfield balance was wrong and instantly improved when Ceballos came on. Xhaka is a right off and Sokratis is a liability as well. Mhiki a waste of space and a waste of a sub, why didn't Willock come on.

Some positives though, Auba and Laca are a class act. I thought Guendozi had a brilliant game and Luiz was good as well.

At 0-2, we all would have taken a draw. However, the scum were there for the taking today and three points could have been ours.
We need to replace Leno, Sokratis, Xhaka and Mickey. We will get better when Bellerin and Tierney are back

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sol Campbell: Every inch, it all counts.

[Mac76]

At 0-2, we all would have taken a draw. However, the scum were there for the taking today and three points could have been ours.
We need to replace Leno, Sokratis, Xhaka and Mickey. We will get better when Bellerin and Tierney are back

Agree with this and gooner23

Think we could have won if he'd brought Willock or even Nelson on instead of Mhki and of course playing a clumsy fool like xhaka against the dirtiest side in the leagueTM was always dumb

[dazthegooner]

I don't think we have a bad squad it's just Emery doesn't know how to develope them into a team if Pep or Klopp were in charge they probably would achieve better results and wouldn't have Xhaka anywhere near. Not happy with a draw but after 40 minutes would have taken that but again we had chances to win.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Guendouzi and Willock and Ceballos have probably been our best players so far this season.

Pepe needs time but I thought he was properly channelling the spirit of ElForeheado today.

[Marc Overmars]

Only positive I guess is that 4th is very much on for us this year.

That is unless the shit kickers in the team decide to fuck that up for us as well. Which is a grave possibility.

[Globalgunner]

How many pens will the Spuds get each season. Im guessing about 15 at least.

[SMatthews]

I don't think we have a bad squad it's just Emery doesn't know how to develope them into a team if Pep or Klopp were in charge they probably would achieve better results and wouldn't have Xhaka anywhere near. Not happy with a draw but after 40 minutes would have taken that but again we had chances to win.

We’re in with a shout of getting top four - I don’t think there’s any reason to think this collection of players would achieve any better than that under a different manager. If he doesn’t get top four then he’s underachieved.

[dostoy]

I knew Arsenal would not go 5 points clear of Spuds like I said yesterday.

There is too much Wenger rubbish still in this team but Emery's selections and subs and very weird.

Holding must be straight back in the team when he is ready and Bellend and Tierney will improve the team.

Why take Laca off and put Mickey on ?

What is the point of fairycake now, he can't even get on the pitch at home in a NLD ?

I really hope Mustafi and Mickey leave tomorrow and fairycake and Mickey leave in January.

With Chelsea and Man Utd looking average, Arsenal have a chance of 4th place but the mentality they have under pressure does not inspire confidence.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

The Mkhitaryan -Sanchez negotiations must have been fascinating.

I don't know if Dick Law and Ed Woodward came away smiling from that but if they did, it sums both our clubs up in recent seasons. :lol:

[Mac76]

How many pens will the Spuds get each season. Im guessing about 15 at least.

Well at least they got a lot of yellows, hopefully that will count against them later in the season

As for Alli what a cunt, literally his entire game is about trying to cheat, he barely touches the ball, just plays his opponent and looks for free kicks and pens

The guy is a total disgrace to the game

K*** should have been booked for diving as well what a shitbag

[Mac76]

Oh and now i've actually seen it at a game i can safely say VAR is a real downer on the atmosphere at key moments, got to say it's a fail as far as the entertainment's concerned

[SMatthews]

Both Auba and Sokratis tried to con the ref for a pen so we can hardly talk today.

Spurs spread their fouls and yellows around the team, they’ve been doing it for years.

[Marc Overmars]

Mkhi is a sloth.

Wish we had managed to flog him and not Iwobi. Sadly with the wages he's on, we're lumbered with him.

[Letters]

Only positive I guess is that 4th is very much on for us this year.
The top 2 are the only sides with any real quality through the team.
After that we’ve got as good a chance as the other contenders for a top 4 spot.
It’ll be the 2 least shit sides like last year making up the top 4.
Reckon we’ve got a good chance.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Oh and now i've actually seen it at a game i can safely say VAR is a real downer on the atmosphere at key moments, got to say it's a fail as far as the entertainment's concerned

At the Burnley game, our fans were going 'OOOOOOOOOOOOOHH' when the VAR came on for our goal, like this is some kind of joke pantomime. He's behinnnnnnd you! I found that weird and unsettling.

The VAR call today I assume was correct though, so no issue with it myself. The implementation is fishy though.

[Marc Overmars]

https://youtu.be/BU5mJc6FJ9M

:haha:

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I don't think we have a bad squad it's just Emery doesn't know how to develope them into a team if Pep or Klopp were in charge they probably would achieve better results and wouldn't have Xhaka anywhere near. Not happy with a draw but after 40 minutes would have taken that but again we had chances to win.

Couldn't agree with you more on the squad and TBH I really don't get why people keep on with this pity me attitude of "oh we don't have the players" or "Emery's doing the best with a poor lot" blah blah blah.....

Well to put things into perspective, the Premiership's most expensive front 3 was unveiled today and yes they all had gunner badges on their chests! So yup, our 170m front 3 dwarves anything Citeh or Liverpool have ever started with. I think only Man U might have ever put on the pitch a more expensive front 3, but with Lukaku gone (and doing rather well where he is now) and Sanchez on his way out, the chances of anyone taking this title away from us for a while looks unlikely.

So the question remains, did we really need to focus all our spending and more importantly our efforts on "improving" the attack?! I mean at the end of the day it's still the 2 usual suspects brought by AW scoring all the goals. Emery chased out the other goal outlets like Ramsey, Welbeck and Iwobi; he's frozen Ozil out, Mhki's continued with his autistic streak and Pepe is going to need time understandably to get use to the league. So really, was the attack strengthened or are we operating an Autopilot system created by AW that any dummy could keep running as long as he had the common sense not to tamper with it- unlike Emery in the Liverpool game.

I think we are all in agreement now that our efforts this summer should have been on how to fix our broken defence. I don't think that the return of Holding and putting Tierney and Bellerin into a team with this sort of psyche will change much. Toreirra is easily our best defensive player and has been used poorly and sparingly by this joke of a manager who seems to be in awe of Xhaka's inordinate ability to stink the place up. Weird and silly selections plus strange strategies and obsessions with meaningless intricacies continue unabated in this Emery era.

To keep things short, I'm not sure that even if Emery had the pick of the World's best talent, just like he did in PSG, I'm not sure he'd be able to deliver what we all want from this team- a fundamental change in the way they approach games and deal with setbacks/pressure.

Under a really decent manager, led by this special front 2 (hopefully 3 soon), this squad is more than enough to give both Citeh and Pool a run for their money.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Anyway, as for the game itself, Emery continued to true form.

He set us up again to contain their attack with the 3 deep lying midfielders and as usual that worked brilliantly with they going 2 up in the first half in no small part due to the special contribution from his favourite! Now what irks me about this manager, is he clearly knows our defending is a problem, so how does he solve it? Maybe a transfer strategy that puts the defence first...... nah too simple. Why not overcompensate by having us play an unnatural style that weakens our attack (our only strength) and play 7 men behind the line marauding around with no proper organisation. And even then he has to ensure a Xhakalike Mustafiat will be in the team for a fixture like this to give away our obligatory penalty/foul leading to a goal for the opposition.

It was more than stupid not to start Ceballos in this game. Easily he should have been on the pitch ahead of Xhaka. Also taking off 2 of the 3 players who have actually scored this season while we were still behind and chasing a goal was also something quite laughable.

All in all we should be happy with the draw as thats the best we can hope for from Emery in any top 6 game. We better get use to this because he'll soon start showing this sort of deference to the likes of Leicester, Everton and Wolves soon- which means half of the league will be unbeatable in Emery's small mind.

[Bumble]

Plus sides are that I did feel will would get a goal before half time, our front players are quality. 3 defensive midfielders and yet we cant defend still. Xhaka should just go.

But if we don't finish top 4 then Emery should be sacked. The Chavs and United are dropping points all over the place against the more average teams. I just cant see how we will finish below them, our attackers will have enough to compensate the defence against the lesser teams.

[Letters]

All in all we should be happy with the draw as thats the best we can hope for from Emery in any top 6 game.

Do what?
Last year we drew with Liverpool at home, lost away.
Lost both games to City.
Beat Chelsea at home, lost away.
Beat Spurs at home, drew away (should have won that one)
Beat Utd at home, drew away.

In a top 6 mini-table pretty sure we were only behind the top 2

[Özim]

Disappointing result again, we were at home Spurs were out of form and very poor.

Emery got it wrong again, he's really showing why he's not a top class coach, playing Xhaka was a shocker, he seems to love the guy despite him offering nothing to the team and being a liability, the midfield was way too negative, we needed some creativity in there in the form of Ceballos or Willock. IMO the midfield should be a combination of Torreira, Guendouzi, Willock and Ceballos, Xhaka should be nowhere near the team, 3 of those 4 listed are the ones who should play every match.

Spurs could have been out of sight in the 1st half (and maybe should have been) to be honest. Subs were shocking again Ceballos on for Torrerira, really? Xhaka should have been off and and taking Lacazette off was a joke, the guy got us back in the game, was sharp throughout and we needed a winner, for Mkhikitaryan no less who never does anything.

Defence was shocking again, our summer transfer business didn't help that. Also terrible error by Leno for the 1st goal, really was a poor save, but again we were way too sloppy tracking back.

The more I see of Emery the more he disappoints to be honest, set up the team poorly, poor lineups and poor subs this guy won't get us competing, if not for the quality of Laca and Auba we'd have been buried yesterday, it's just lucky we have two top strikers, always said top strikers are worth their weight in gold as they can rescue a game for you out of nothing, special mention for Guendouzi too who was decent.

[Globalgunner]

Disappointing result again, we were at home Spurs were out of form and very poor.

Emery got it wrong again, he's really showing why he's not a top class coach, playing Xhaka was a shocker, he seems to love the guy despite him offering nothing to the team and being a liability, the midfield was way too negative, we needed some creativity in there in the form of Ceballos or Willock. IMO the midfield should be a combination of Torreira, Guendouzi, Willock and Ceballos, Xhaka should be nowhere near the team, 3 of those 4 listed are the ones who should play every match.

Spurs could have been out of sight in the 1st half (and maybe should have been) to be honest. Subs were shocking again Ceballos on for Torrerira, really? Xhaka should have been off and and taking Lacazette off was a joke, the guy got us back in the game, was sharp throughout and we needed a winner, for Mkhikitaryan no less who never does anything.

Defence was shocking again, our summer transfer business didn't help that. Also terrible error by Leno for the 1st goal, really was a poor save, but again we were way too sloppy tracking back.

The more I see of Emery the more he disappoints to be honest, set up the team poorly, poor lineups and poor subs this guy won't get us competing, if not for the quality of Laca and Auba we'd have been buried yesterday, it's just lucky we have two top strikers, always said top strikers are worth their weight in gold as they can rescue a game for you out of nothing, special mention for Guendouzi too who was decent.

Agree with all the above except Laca was the one who asked to be subbed. He must have picked up something. Xhaka will be the death of this manager at Arsenal. He effectively cost us CL last season in the game with Brighton and will cost us points every time he is picked. Thoroughly useless lump that Emery made captain. Laca is brilliant by the way, such quick feet to lash that goal in yesterday.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Agree about the midfield and picking 3 of Willock, Guendouzi, Torreira, Ceballos. Even Ozil yesterday wouldn't have costed us in the way Xhaka did who also should have been red carded.

[Mac76]

Agree with all the above except Laca was the one who asked to be subbed. He must have picked up something. Xhaka will be the death of this manager at Arsenal. He effectively cost us CL last season in the game with Brighton and will cost us points every time he is picked. Thoroughly useless lump that Emery made captain. Laca is brilliant by the way, such quick feet to lash that goal in yesterday.

yes apparently Laca had a minor hamstring problem but Emery said it wasn't 'severe' which hopefully means he'll be fine for the next game

unfortunately he also praised Xhaka for his overall game so let's hope he's more accurate about Laca...

[Özim]

unfortunately he also praised Xhaka for his overall game so let's hope he's more accurate about Laca...

I just don't get Emery, this guy cost us goals regularly and cost us the win yesterday effectively, yet here he is again praising him, what does Emery see in him, clearly it's something or he wouldn't have made him captain.

Xhaka has cost us and will cost us again, he thinks too slowly and reacts too slowly for the English game and that's never going to change.

[Özim]

What's disappointing about Emery so far is that over a season into his time, there's no clear direction and no clear style of play, you'd have expected that after this amount of time he'd have the team playing the way he wants them to and that the new signings were cogs to implement that, unfortunately it doesn't appear to be the case right now.

For this hoping Tierney and Bellerin will make all the difference, the former has never played in the PL and so will need time to adapt after playing at a very different level and Bellerin has been out for a long time with a career risking injury and will take quite some time to get fit again and get back to form, so we can't really count on them making a difference for a fair while.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Do what?
Last year we drew with Liverpool at home, lost away.
Lost both games to City.
Beat Chelsea at home, lost away.
Beat Spurs at home, drew away (should have won that one)
Beat Utd at home, drew away.

In a top 6 mini-table pretty sure we were only behind the top 2

Like you said, last year, also thats when there was still a litlle bit of positivity in him and he hadn't gone over to the dark side.

Also note all the wins came only at home- oh and Spurs did beat us at home in some cup IIRC.

Looking at this years top 6 table, already we are second to the bottom with just Chelsea's one match propping us up.The Spuds should be really pleased with themselves, as they've taken a total of 4 points off both us and Citeh and are well placed to get decent results at home against the smaller top 4. I hope this mini league table won't be that important to final standings because if Emery continues with his negative football we will firmly remain at the bottom this year.

[Unai Tea]

In the end, not really a satisfying result. Awful to go down 2-0 early due to insipid stupidity, great to come back and at least draw. Had this been an away game, wouldn't really complain. There were long stretches where we were dominant, but always drifted out of it and Tottenham were able to fashion chances too easily when we took the boot off their necks.

What I would say is that last year, considering quality of squad, it felt like any result against them was almost like a bonus. Now it feels like it's 50/50. Hopefully we'll continue to improve as players come back and settle in.

[Letters]

Looking at this years top 6 table
Come on, dude.
Looking at the whole table let alone the mini top 6 table at this stage is silly.
From what I’ve seen so far though, last season’s top 2 are going to be in their own little world again.
After that I reckon we are as good as anyone.
The other likely top 4 teams are Spurs, Chelsea and Utd and none of them are looking any better than us.
As I said above looking like the 2 least bad sides will complete the top 4.
Right now I see no reason to think we are either favourites or underdogs for one of those positions.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Looking at the whole table let alone the mini top 6 table at this stage is silly...........

You don't say....... probably best you lock this debate section up and open it towards the end of the seaon, maybe we'll be "entertained" and get a dramatic car crash ending like last year.

Anyway, the rest of your reply was an analysis, rightly based on what we've seen so far this season, exactly what I did.

Now though I agree with much of it, simply finishing top 4 because our competitors are having problems will not be an achievement for me this season. Another flash in the pan (a la Leicester) is certainly not what AFC should be about.

[Letters]

Now though I agree with much of it, simply finishing top 4 because our competitors are having problems will not be an achievement for me this season. Another flash in the pan (a la Leicester) is certainly not what AFC should be about.

I don't think a top 4 finish would be a flash in the pan, we have the resources to maintain a top 4 position, they didn't. What they did was remarkable and really shouldn't be possible in this day and age but they did what they did in part because the other top teams were rebuilding and...Wenger. And while I agree us finishing top 4 would be as much about other teams' failings, it would be a start. Liverpool and City are miles and miles above us, and above everyone. We were never going to close that gap in one or two season. Last season was a small step closed - a bit too small for my liking but it was a small improvement. Lots of work to do but we've strengthened enough to suggest we should finish top 4 this year. Obviously the defence remains the big concern, we aren't going to seriously push on till we sort that out.

[Mac76]

Leicester are looking ominously good this season...

[GP]

lol

[Letters]

lol

:gp: